


What's Cooking?

by miraculouslycool



Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: Aged-Up Character(s), Alya and Nino Ship It, Cooking Lessons, F/M, Fluff, Friends to Lovers, Kwami Shenanigans, Lovesick Adrien Agreste, Post Reveal, Pre Relationship, Romance, Told mostly in Adrien's POV, Will Give You Cavities, a lot of it, adrien learns how to cook, adrienette - Freeform, and diabetes, idiots to lovers, kitchen shenanigans, marinette is a good teacher, no they're not dating, okay?, they're just idiots
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-01-18
Updated: 2021-02-18
Packaged: 2021-03-16 14:28:54
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 11,397
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28832700
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/miraculouslycool/pseuds/miraculouslycool
Summary: Adrien Agreste. Supermodel. Champion Fencer. Future Quantum Physicist in the making. Veteran Superhero.What was the point of any of those things if he regularly burns his pancakes and sets his kitchen on fire?Alya suggests that Adrien gets cooking lessons from Marinette."Give yourself a month! You are bound to get better!" she said.Too bad he is far too head over heels in love with his teacher for that to happen.
Relationships: Adrien Agreste | Chat Noir/Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug
Comments: 48
Kudos: 182





	1. A Fork in the Road

Adrien had no idea how he got roped into third wheeling a date with Alya and Nino, but it wasn't like he hadn't done it before. 

Okay, maybe he had a little idea. He loved his friends, but third wheeling them alone was kind of depressing. 

Usually, he could rely on Marinette to third wheel with him and roll their eyes at Alya and Nino's shameless flirting together, but today she was a little late to their weekly hangouts for lunch together, as she got held back at one of her classes.

Nino was talking to Alya about a story he had probably heard a few times before. It wasn't that he wasn't listening, but seeing as they were roommates, he was usually the first to listen to Nino's new beats or his funny stories about his classmates. 

Safely deciding to let his attention wander, he glanced down at the menu, wondering what he could order for himself. 

Nothing really came to mind, other than his growling stomach and the painful reminder that he had three research papers waiting for him at home. 

"Hey, you ready to order yet, buddy?" Nino asked, bringing his attention back to his friends. 

"Yeah...I think I'm gonna have a bigger lunch today." He said nervously in a hushed whisper, like Nathalie was gonna hear him from her house and burst in to scold him. 

"Why do you sound so scared of eating, sunshine?" Alya laughed. "We're not gonna judge you if you have a three course meal and every course is a croquembouche."

His eyes traveled to the desserts, lighting up when he saw that Marinette's favourite dessert was available today.

"Geez, Alya are you trying to give me diabetes?" Adrien said dryly, not lifting his eyes from the menu. "I think Marinette and I get that enough from your flirting."

Nino whooped and gave him a high five while his girlfriend mock-glared at him. "Thanks babe, nice to know you always have my back." she deadpanned.

"Excuse me," Adrien flagged down a waiter. 

"Yes, monsieur." he walked up to their table, notepad and pen ready. 

"I'd like the lobster bisque, the bouillabaisse, the chicken pasta, the beef bourguignon, and the strawberry tarts, please." 

The waiter nodded as he scribbled down his order. 

"Oh!" Adrien started, nearly facepalming. "I almost forgot, please add cranberry sauce as a topping for the tart." 

Marinette would really like that one. 

The waiter probably was debating telling him that he could wait till the end to order his dessert, but he couldn't risk the tarts running out before Marinette got here. 

"Thank you, your meals will be arriving shortly." he politely said, and Adrien turned to face Alya's incredulous face.

"Way to stick it to your dietician, dude!" Nino happily raised his fist, which confused Adrien.

"Huh?"

"Wow, Agreste, didn't know you had it in you to devour an entire feast!" Alya joked as Nino put his fist down, disappointed. "Pasta and bourguignon? At the same time?"

Adrien's eyes widened as he realised the reason for their confusion. "Oh! You thought I was- no, no, the bouillabaisse, the pasta and the tarts were for Marinette, not me."

"'Nette told you to order that?" Nino asked.

"No she didn't." Adrien said, stating the obvious. "That's what she orders every single time we're here. Did you not notice? I'm just really glad I got to the dessert before it ran out, Marinette was so disappointed last week when it wasn't available." 

He didn't think he could handle watching Marinette's little pout of disappointment again. 

Nino's jaw hung open, but Alya was unfazed. "I don't know, Adrien, how do you not notice  that I'm tired of this?"

Adrien squinted. " _This_? What's _this_?"

"Dude, what Alya means is - why haven't you asked Marinette out yet?"

If Adrien had been drinking water, he would have spit it out. 

"Why-how- what does that have to do with anything? And don't bring this up again, you know we're just-"

"-friends?" Alya yawned. "Yeah, we've all heard that one before."

"We are!" Adrien said hotly, but his cheeks were glowing as red as Ladybug's costume. 

A part of him wished he had been stuck enjoying Marinette's company at his and Nino's apartment more and more. He was fine getting creamed by her in video games, he was fine listening to her laugh at his terrible jokes, he was fine watching her light up like a christmas tree every single time he listened to her talk about her classes, he was fine wondering about the possibilities of Marinette being perhaps more than a friend.

Finding out she was the girl he had fought alongside with and been in love with for 5 years? It was like someone had slam dunked him to the fiery pits of hell's torture.

Nino would probably tell him he was being dramatic, but it really didn't feel like he wasn't.

The revelation wasn't anything dramatic. Neither was it mutual. Just two dumb teenagers who accidentally chose the same patch of bushes to detransform in. Sure, they had managed to face each other again after the very awkward and anti-climactic reveal a year ago, and their friendship was stronger than before. Alya even had an entire series of blog posts dedicated to their best moments of teamwork as voted on by their fans. 10 of them were from this year alone. 

Hey, he had even managed to get over the awe of falling for Ladybug twice!

Oh wait. He hadn't. 

He was still gawking at Marinette's existence. He was still blushing when she called him her "chaton" everytime they were out of costume. He hadn't been able to sleep for two whole days from the sheer euphoria of getting to cuddle her to sleep during patrol. He was still a mess over her. A controlled, put-together mess, but a mess all the same.

No wonder Nino had laughed when he quietly admitted to him six months ago about his heart troubles. He was pathetic.

But no way was he going to admit to it. 

"Please, I really, really don't wanna bring this up again any more than you do. I understand why you two are friends right now. You two have your own...weird....I don't know how to explain it but you call her your lady all the time and she can't stop with the puns around you for some reason." Involuntarily, a smile creeped upon Adrien's lips at Nino's words.

"What I don't understand is why you aren't putting yourself out of your misery and just asking her out already. It's not like she'll say no." 

"Yeah, I mean, it's so obvious that the two of you have a thing for each other, the way you look at her-"

"I can't ask her out." Adrien muttered, cutting her off. 

Alya gaped for a second, and Adrien repeated. "I really can't risk asking her out." 

"Okay, wow. That is the first time you haven't tried to avoid the topic." Alya blinked. "Why can't you ask her out?" 

Adrien groaned and buried his face in his hands. He really couldn't handle this conversation right now.

Nino, to his immense gratitude, took the lead. "He really doesn't wanna ruin their friendship." He audibly whispered to his girlfriend. "I mean, you know my boy Adrien. He thinks she doesn't feel the same way. Or else there would be nothing stopping him from doing it." 

"But she does-" Alya indignantly began before cutting herself off. 

"Alya, I can't." Adrien peeked out from his hiding place. "It's not that I don't want to, I can't. If she doesn't feel the same way and I ruin our friendship forever -" his breath hitched. "-look, I know it sounds stupid, and you two probably think I'm being dramatic, but I think she likes someone else." 

"Who?"

"Y-you know, that guy you set her up with a few months ago?" He stuttered nervously.

"What? You mean Louis?" Alya sputtered. "That was last July! And before I came to know that you liked her back!"

The painfully nagging part of his subconscious wanted to correct her. He didn't like Marinette. This wasn't some dumb crush. He loved her. He had loved her for the better part of his adolescence. She was the best part of being a superhero. She was one of the best parts of his life-

"And they're not even going out! They ended it after 2 dates -"

"You know what-" Nino narrowed his eyes at his best friend. "This was never about another guy. He's just making excuses, babe. You're just chickening out, aren't you?"

Adrien grunted heavily. "Look, I'm too hungry for this. Once Marinette gets here, I really don't think we should be even looking like we're discussing this-"

"Dude." Nino interrupted. "We get it." he said softly. 

Adrien's heart jumped to his throat. 

"Yeah, we do." Alya leaned against Nino's shoulder easily, like she was molded against his body. "And as yours and Marinette's friend, I am glad you are being careful about this."

"Yeah bro, you really care about her. You don't want to be half-assing this, you don't want to do anything rash that could ruin things between you or hurt her,"

Relief pooled in his stomach. "Yes! You get it, that's exactly how I feel. I care way too much about Marinette to hold her back from-" 

He didn't complete his sentence. 

He had no idea about Ladybug - Marinette's relationship with that other boy she mentioned. She hadn't talked about him for several years, which was the norm for them as superheroes. No personal info. 

That was the only reason why he didn't dwell on that guy too much. Ladybug had stopped mentioning that she was in love with someone else every single time he'd dish out a hopeful flirty quip as Chat Noir. He couldn't hold out hope only for it to be dashed again. Getting rejected by Ladybug for years was painful enough, getting rejected by her as Marinette once and for all? He shuddered. 

Good thing he was always used to disappointment. 

"But you're only putting yourself through more pain and disappointment if you don't actually do it!" Nino whined, frustrated at his friend's adamance. 

The door to the restaurant flew open and Adrien's sharp eyes quickly spotted a head full of dark hair entering inside. 

"Marinette!" he called through the din of the restaurant's noise.

She jumped a little at his voice, and raised a hand to wave at him, and Nino and Alya as well, when they turned around to face her. 

His face automatically broke into a lazy smile that only grew wider as she approached. He could barely remember the last few minutes of agony. Her cheeks were pink from cold, visible even through the pink scarf wrapped around her neck. She was already removing her coat and Adrien got up to get it from her. 

"Careful!" He caught it before it slipped from her grasp and onto the floor. "You don't wanna be juggling your coat and your  _ 'suitcase' _ , do you?" he teased. 

"He's not wrong." Alya quipped, eyeing her large bag, slung so heavily it was weighing down her smaller frame. "You walk into a class like you're gonna backpack across Europe. How do you even have the strength to carry all that?"

"I need all my books Alya! I'd rather not risk forgetting one so I carry all of them. As I have explained time and time again."

"That's sound logic." Nino said slowly.

She rolled her eyes. "It's not that heavy." she whispered to Adrien. "You don't have to carry it."

"Come off it." he ignored her protests and placed her bag underneath her chair, draping her coat over it. 

He was about to pull her chair for her, when she squeezed his arm in gratitude. "I'm going to the restroom, be right back, you guys can start ordering, I'm so sorry I kept you waiting!" 

"Oh no, don't worry about it, we already ordered." Nino reassured her. "My boy Adrien ordered for you!" 

Resisting the urge to hiss in embarrassment, Adrien sufficed with blushing at Marinette's surprise. "I...remembered your usual order. I even managed to snag the strawberry tarts before they ran out today, but if you want something else, I can flag down the waiter for you-!" 

Marinette only grinned radiantly and kissed his cheek softly. "Thank you, mon chaton." she whispered into his ear, sending shivers down his spine. 

He didn't sit down until he saw her retreating form disappear behind the restroom sign. 

He despondently turned to Nino's smirk and Alya's excited grin. 

"That was pathetic, wasn't it?" He mumbled as he sat down. 

"It was, but it was sweet." Nino said, encouragingly. "Don't sweat it, bro, you were fine, you got a kiss on the cheek out of it!"

"I should remember her orders more." he meant to be sarcastic. It came out dreamier and softer than he intended. 

Alya surprised the boys by slamming her hands on the table. 

"Babe?" 

"That's it." She said, with a mad glint in her eyes. "What if you did?"

"Oh no. I know that look. That look means trouble, what are you planning?" Nino said all in one breath. 

Alya grinned at both of them. "I think I know what I should be doing. I know how to get you two together!" she jabbed a finger in Adrien's direction, making his shoulders stiffen in fright. 

"...What?" 

"You want to ask Marinette out, right?"

"....yes? I mean, if it were possible, I would-"

"No ifs. You want to, don't you?"

The spot where Marinette had kissed him was still tingling. 

He could say no. He could dodge Alya, have a meal with his _friends_ and go back home....

....home to another day of quietly pining over his lady. He would close his eyes and be haunted by Marinette's blue ones sparkling behind them. She would hug him and he would find himself wanting to hold her longer. He would listen to her talk and almost get caught staring at her lips. 

This wasn't just anyone he could just get over. This was Marinette. This was Ladybug. His best friend and the love of his life. He did not say that lightly. 

"Yes." he said, his jaw set in a firm, hard line. "What should I do?" 

"Ugh, I have wasted all my time when...it's you I should have been plotting with you all along, Adrien!" Alya clasped her hands together, rubbing them conspiratorially. 

If she said yes....that amount of happiness would only be possible in his wildest dreams. If she said no - 

_ 'Don't think about that, idiot. Be positive. Marinette would want you to be.' _ he scolded himself.

"Listen to me carefully. I am only going to tell you what to do." Alya said in a hushed whisper. "The rest is up to you, okay? Woo her away on my behalf." 

Nino made a noise that was something between a laugh and an affronted grunt, but Adrien only had ears for Alya. "Yes, ma'am."

He was going to do it. No more chickening out. No more hiding. He was going to go all out for her. He was going to tell her how he felt. 

He could hear Plagg groaning in his shirt pocket. He ignored it. 

This was going to go great.   
  



	2. A Legend In The Baking

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> LOOK I KNOW ITS ONLY BEEN 5 HOURS SINCE THE FIRST ONE THE POWER OF POST REVEAL PRE RELATIONSHIP IS TOO STRONG OKAY??

This was _not_ going great. 

Marinette chatted with Alya as they began to leave the restaurant after picking up the cheque. 

The meal had gone well enough. Nino excitedly told them how well his stint as TA was going, Alya ranted about an uncooperative classmate she got stuck with for a project, Marinette showed off her new designs, which Adrien was nothing but full of praises for. 

He barely opened his mouth during lunch, still mulling over Alya's ridiculous plan. His stupor was momentarily shook by Marinette throwing her arms around him for remembering her favorite dessert topping. 

He was sure the hairs at the back of his neck were still standing on end. 

"You know," Nino startled him by saying. "Of all of Alya's plans, I think this is the least craziest one of all." 

" _This_ is the least craziest one?" Adrien gawked. "No offence to Alya but-but-I can't just walk up to Marinette and ask her to teach me how to _cook_!" 

"Scream louder, won't you? I think a deaf man in the middle of the Alps couldn't hear you." Nino snarked.

Adrien was met with a few curious glances from onlookers, and he hid his face behind his scarf, embarrassed. "Sorry. But you know what I mean, I can't even make a cup of tea!" 

"Gee, you don't say? I think our neighbours would like to say otherwise."

"Nino!" 

"Sorry, dude, but that's why you're learning! Marinette would never turn down your genuine offer for help." 

"Except it's not so genuine, is it?" He hissed. "I'd only be doing this for an opportunity to ask her out. Isn't that against some ethical code or something?" 

Nino gave him a straight laced stare. "Really?"

"Sorry, I just-" he facepalmed. He knew he was being stupid, and yet…

"I don't want her to get the wrong idea. Or think I'm an idiot who can't go a day without burning down his own kitchen." 

"Ask yourself, man." Nino clapped a hand on his shoulder. "Do you want to learn how to cook?" 

"Yes, I mean, kind of? It wouldn't hurt-"

"Do you want to spend time with Marinette?" 

"Yes." 

"Are you going to be lying to her about why you're spending time with her?"

"....no?" 

"Then what's the problem?" Nino shrugged. 

"Nino, let's go!" Alya called from a few steps away. 

"Godspeed, son." Nino patted his back before waving to him. He spared a hug for Marinette before slinging his arm around Alya and walking ahead.

Marinette flashed a small smile at him as he matched her pace. 

_"Okay, Adrien. Casually bring it up in conversation. No need to be suspicious about it."_ He whispered to himself. 

"Can I come out now?" A nasally voice said out of nowhere and both of them nearly jumped. 

"Plagg!" He whisper-shouted. "Can you keep it down?!" 

Marinette giggled a little. "Aw Plagg, did Adrien keep you locked up all day?" She kept her voice as low as possible. 

"Plagg, that was not funny!" Tikki peeked out from Marinette's scarf. "You scared all of us!" 

"You know what is not funny? Being shut in his bag all day with nothing but books for company! Bleugh!!" 

"Okay, okay, calm down." Marinette opened her purse. "Why don't the two of you get in here?" 

Tikki promptly did so, Plagg followed, albeit a little more grumpily. 

"One of these days he is gonna get me caught." Adrien grumbled. "It's only a matter of time before Nino asks me why I have so much cheese hoarded in my mini-fridge." 

"Tell him you really like Camembert?" Marinette offered. She laughed at the grumpy look on his face. "Sometimes you and Plagg really look alike." She nudged his arm.

"Sure, if you say so." Adrien muttered. "I'm not the one scaring people in public." 

He was gonna tell Plagg off once he got home. He had the perfect moment and he ruined it. 

"Hey." Marinette placed a hand on his arm. "Are you okay?" 

He squinted at her as they began walking again. "Yes, why wouldn't I be?"

"No, you were just really quiet all throughout lunch. Did something go wrong in class?" 

"Oh, nothing went wrong!" He hastened to explain. "There's just...a lot on my mind, I guess." Snow crunched distractedly under his shoes.

"Anything I can do to help?" She inquired kindly, her gloved hand intertwining with his. "I'm sure it's not that bad. Is it your father?" 

"Pfft, no." He said, even though his heart warmed at her readiness to help him. "It is stupid." 

"It can't be stupid if it's bothering you." 

"Well, it's not bothering me but- I wouldn't mind it if it was rectified? Am I making sense?" He hesitantly held her fingers in his. 

"No, you're not." She huffed. "Look, just tell me. You're making it sound so convoluted. The last time you convinced me your life was over you just had a bad wardrobe malfunction." 

One of the tuxedo coats he modeled; exclusively selected for a high profile event had ripped at the last minute. Not that anyone knew, but it was because of the extra muscle he had put from parkouring around Paris. His designer was having a fit over his sudden increase in size. Both of them knew his father was not merciful when it came to last minute hitches. He was known for firing designers and models for that same reason.

All it took was a single call to Marinette, who was in the audience with Nino and Alya. She had it fixed in 10 minutes flat, but his lineup had to be rescheduled. It was a barely averted disaster.

"It was one of my dad's designs! He would have ended me if he got to know!" 

"Over a few ripped seams?" Marinette asked quietly. It wasn't that he blamed her, but she sounded worried.

"Hey, it's a good thing you were there in the audience of the fashion show, you practically saved my life that day, m'lady." 

"Like I said, that was nothing. And I bet this one isn't either." She poked his arm playfully. "So spill, Agreste." 

"I...." he gulped. 

_'...want to ask you out.'_

_'...want to know what it's like to be your boyfriend, cause best friend-slash-superhero partner doesn't roll off the tongue very well'_

_'...No I didn't meant that, you're my best friend and I wouldn't trade that for anything!"_

_'....but I'm in love with you.'_

_'....stick to the gosh darned plan, Adrien.'_

"I wanna learn how to cook." He blurted.

"....that's it?" Marinette replied, surprised.

"Yeah, I mean, it's kind of embarrassing that I don't know how. Nino does most of the cooking at home and the one time I tried I kind of burned the oven and - no wait, it's fine!!" He winced at Marinette's gasp. "I paid Nino back for it, I got him a brand new oven even though he didn't want me to but-" he sighed. "Our neighbors thought the house was on fire - yeah, that's right, laugh it up, why don't you, Plagg, I can HEAR you!!" 

The raucous giggles from Marinette's purse did not subside. They were only joined by loud hushes, no doubt from Tikki. 

"Guys!" Marinette opened her purse, muffling her own giggles. "Shh!! It's not funny!" 

"Marinette, I can see you trying to not laugh." Adrien accused. 

"Pfff, I'm sorry, _mon chaton_ , but - " she broke off to giggle a little. "Okay, okay, it's not funny. Not funny." 

She managed to keep a straight face for three seconds before bursting into giggles again. 

"Bugaboo." He said sternly. "Stop it. It's not - " he sighed, rubbing his temple with his free hand.

"It is a little funny." Marinette argued. "I mean, we all have accidents like that. Come on, Adrien, live a little! Make jokes!" 

"I'd make a joke about it, but you'd laugh at me again." He pouted. 

"I think I would laugh at you regardless." Marinette buried her face into his shoulder, chuckling as she did. 

" _Marineeeeettte !"_ He whined. "I'm serious! I really-" 

Why was he doing this? Why couldn't he just spit out the words?! He never had a problem with them before! 

"I think I need help." He quietly admitted. He wasn't lying. It would be nice to not be a screw up. It would be nice to be a normal person like his friends, and not get weird looks out of it. 

If only his father knew that he was getting his hands dirty by doing housework. _'Not befitting for an Agreste',_ he'd undoubtedly say. 

Yeah, he didn't know. Marinette's head was on his shoulder, her hair was tickling his cheek and her scent was intoxicating.

"Wait so," Marinette straightened up to look at him. "You want to learn how to cook." She stated, as if confirming the fact. 

"YouTube makes it look so easy." He blabbered. "I'm a lost cause, Bugaboo. I'll just live on takeout for the rest of my life."

"But you said you needed help." Marinette frowned. She stepped in front of him, effectively pausing his long strides. 

"I mean," he rubbed the back of his neck. "It would be nice to. But I have other things to do and-" 

"Adrien." Marinette cut him off. "All you need are three hour lessons twice a week and some practice. You know I'd be happy to help you out right?" 

Darn it. 

How was he supposed to say no to that face? When she looked so adorable with her eyes shining and snow falling on her hair like that?

"Come on, m'lady. You have so many other things you could be doing." He said. "Really, I'll be okay. I'll get Nino to teach me or something."

He really wanted to confess, but not like this. Convoluted plans were Marinette's and Alya's thing, not his. He'd explain things to Alya and just...find another way.

Marinette scoffed instead. "Nino didn't grow up in a bakery." 

"Yeah, but-but you're busier! I literally live with the guy, I don't want to impose on you!" 

"Adrien." 

"And besides, yeah, Nino is not a master chef or anything -"

"Adrien."

"But he's better than me! That has to count for something!" 

"Adrien!" Marinette finally said loudly. "I'm totally down to help you!" She gripped his shoulders, making him face her. "We're in no hurry. We'll meet up twice in a week, we'll start small and we can work our way up to it. Either Alya and Nino are always out of the house anyway, and we can use either of our kitchens. At the most, it'll take what? A month? I'll have you cooking gourmet meals by then. Trust me on this, kitty." 

He smiled slightly at her sincerity. "Nice pitch. It almost worked on me." 

"Who said I'm asking for your permission?" She asked innocently, taking his hand and dragging him to the nearest bus stop. "Now that I know you're only refusing because you don't want to 'bother' me? Guess what? That's exactly what I'm gonna do." 

"Where are we going?" He laughed. Some things never changed. Marinette would always be that stubborn, determined girl he knew. 

"To the supermarket close to my house." She said, keeping an eye out for the nearest bus. "Your classes begin today." 

"I can't fight against this, can I?" 

"Nope." She whipped her head back at him. Her eyes were glinting excitedly. It was the same fire she had before charging into battle. "There's no 'I' in 'cream' after all!" 

He could have sworn his heart skipped a beat. He loved it when she punned. Not that he would ever admit it out loud - he had a reputation as a pungeon master to uphold.

"Thanks, bugaboo." He slung an arm around her, squeezing her to his side.

"W-what are partners for?" She stuttered, her cheeks turning pink. 

"Everything okay?" He asked. "You look like you're shivering."

"Must be the cold!" She squeaked.


	3. Know Your Onions

Adrien bit the inside of his cheeks at Marinette's annoyed huff. 

"I still don't see why you have to carry my bag, I told you, I'm fine!" Marinette said, averting her face from his as she unlocked the door to hers and Alya's apartment.

"Because we nearly got into a thumb war of all things over who got to hold the most bags." He said, side-eyeing the two heavy grocery bags.

"And I won!"

"Exactly, which is why I am only carrying your backpack and you ended up with both our groceries. An even balance, I'd say." He said, as if that settled the matter.

Marinette rolled her eyes exasperatedly, but fixed him with a small smile as they walked inside. "Oh alright."

"I won this round, didn't I?" He said smugly.

"Don't rub it in." She retorted, placing both their bags on the table, placing Adrien's and Nino's essentials a few inches away from hers so that he would know which bag to take home.

"Tikki, there are cookies in the kitchen." She said, opening her purse.

"What?" Plagg accused, watching Tikki fly away. "No cheese for me?"

Adrien tossed the brand new wheel of cheese at his kwami, who promptly caught it.

"Wohoo!!" Plagg exclaimed happily before following Tikki as well. "Hey, Sugarcube! Look what I got!"

"Do you guys play ball a lot?" Marinette asked offhandedly, as they removed their coats and scarves.

"Sure. If throwing a block of cheese at him from across a room to shut him up before Nino catches me counts as 'ball'." Adrien said, making Marinette laugh.

"Let's get started!" He said, riding on the excitement of making her laugh.

"Woah there, tiger." Marinette stopped him with a hand to his chest. "How about we first talking about _how_ we should be getting started?"

"What do you mean?" Adrien asked.

'Don't think about her hand on your chest, Don't think about her hand in your chest, Don't-'

"I mean...." Marinette said thoughtfully, tapping her chin. "Ok, first things first. If not cooking, what do you do in your kitchen?"

"Oh just...you know. I just do the dishes and washing up and stuff since Nino does the cooking for two. Gotta do my part around the house." He said sheepishly. "Don't tell Nathalie. She thinks we have an automatic dishwasher at home."

"She thinks?" Marinette asked, curiously. "Has she not visited? What about your father?"

"Nah, it's just me visiting them. It's because she doesn't know that he doesn't know." He plopped himself on the girls' couch like he had done several times before.

"Doesn't he ask you about..." Marinette trailed off, rubbing her arm through her sweater.

She wasn't the only one uncomfortable with the turn this conversation was taking. Nathalie did listen to him talk about the experience of leaving the nest and living on his own, but she never asked first. His father...the few times he saw him, it was all business.

"Not really. The fashion industry is super busy, you should know." He laughed it off.

"Yeah." Marinette said, her face falling a little. "I should know."

She straightened up immediately. "Okay. That's good, that you do know your way around the kitchen."

"It's only a little..." he said shyly.

"What do you know how to make already?" She questioned.

"Coffee." He said simply before making a face. "And I don't even like it that much. Tea is so much better, and I don't even know how to make it."

"Excuse you, coffee is way superior." Marinette scoffed.

"Of course you would say that. If you're not out moonlighting with a mysterious and might I add, elegantly handsome cat-" he winked at her affronted expression. "-you're always up studying. Do you even sleep?"

"How do you not need coffee? You're just as awake as I am!"

"The taste is terrible!" He made a face. "And I go to sleep the minute I get home from patrol!"

" _ 'I go to sleep the minute I get home!!' _ " Marinette mocked. "No, you just get home and harass me with needy texts all night like the cat you are!  _ 'M'lady please sacrifice the sleep you don't get so that I can torture you with stupid jokes all night!' _ " She harrumphed in a baby voice.

"Whose jokes are you calling stupid?" Adrien argued, poised at the edge of his seat, ready to lunge.

"Yours? I thought you're the one with better- _ AH _ !" Adrien caught her around the waist, pulling her to the couch. "-he-ear-ring-hahahaha-stop tickling me!!" She managed to say between laughs.

"Never!" He challenged, pinning her to the couch as he tickled her sides mercilessly. "Admit that you like my jokes!"

"N-no!" Marinette sputtered, unsuccessfully trying to pry his hands off her.

"Fine by me, I can keep this up." Adrien said, nonchalantly, speeding up his efforts.

"N-no! A-adrien!! Your jokes are good! I like them!!" She finally gave in.

He decided to give her mercy, but their laughter bounced off the walls for a few more minutes relentlessly.

"We are so dumb." Marinette said, heaving a huge breath as she stared at his still sitting form.

He blinked a little as he watched Marinette's body calming down from the high of laughter, her slender hand coming up to wipe the tears from her eyes, her loose hair splayed all over the couch.

"The ladybug is only as dumb as the cat, I assure you." He said softly, offering her a hand to pull her up.

She grinned, booping his nose playfully, before patting down her hair. He had certainly caused it to become a tangled mess around her face. His fingers moved of his own accord to push a strand of hair behind her ear, his thumb brushing against the apple of her cheek.

His eyes shifted to her parted pink lips, exhaling short breaths, before locking with hers.

He could have sworn she had leaned in-

"Adrien?" A polite, yet annoyed voice flew from the kitchen and they both jumped apart.

"Y-yes, Tikki?" Adrien stammered.

"Am I interrupting something?" She asked, narrowing her eyes at both of them.

"No!!" Both of them shouted at the same time. Adrien didn't even know his legs were tangled with hers until she swung them off of his.

"What can I do for you, Tikki?" Adrien asked, his heart still beating fast.

"Is there any more cheese?" She asked. "Plagg is being whiny again."

"He ate up the first batch already?" Adrien exclaimed. "Oh all right, there's one more in that bag." He pointed.

Tikki thanked him and flew to get it. Both of them could have sworn she was smirking when she flew away.

"Okay so..." Marinette said. "We'll start small."

He blinked for a second before he remembered.

"We'll start with tea?" She asked hopefully. "It's something you like and it isn't even that hard."

"Okay." He said, readying himself.

"Come on!" She pulled him into the kitchen and he followed, laughing.

* * *

Adrien's fingers gripped his knife tightly as he chopped the tomatoes, like Marinette asked.

She had gotten a call from someone, so he was left in charge of the vegetables while she finished her conversation.

"Hi, Adrien!" Tikki chirped. "How is practice going?"

"Not bad." he said, pausing his actions to smile at the kwami. "How's Plagg's food coma going?"

"He's sleeping it off." Tikki giggled, settling herself on Adrien's shoulder as she watched the young man move to the next vegetable.

The best part of Adrien's day was easily his patrols with his lady, and now he had these classes to look forward to as well. They mostly met at his house rather than hers, upon Marinette's suggestion. It was so that Adrien could get more used to his kitchen's environment.

Marinette may have tutted at his and Nino's lack of what she declared to be "kitchen essentials", but she was a patient and kind teacher, always guiding him on how to fix his mistakes, and not giving up on him even when his first batch of noodles came out looking like a clump. 

And he certainly wasn’t complaining when she would  _ bodily _ direct him sometimes. 

_ “Hold the knife like this,” _ she’d correct the placement of his fingers by brushing her hands against his oh so gently he’d practically shiver. 

_ “Mix it in the opposite direction...you gotta fold in the gravy like this.” _ she’d instruct casually, like his wrist wasn’t held around the fingers of one hand and his entire arm in the other. 

_ “You did amazing today!”  _ She’d exclaim a variation of that sentence after every lesson they had, giving him a hug so tight and so affectionate he’d never want to step out of her arms. 

He had no idea how to explain that his hands were shaking because of her and not the fact that they were smack dab in the middle of winter. 

"Uh, Adrien, are you sure you don't wanna go slower?" Tikki asked hesitantly.

"What do you mean?" Adrien asked, not taking his eyes off of the cutting board.

"Your slices look a little uneven." she said doubtfully.

Oh. he paused. So they were.

Did it really matter if they were? They were just going to go into the pot anyway.

"It doesn't matter, Tikki." he shrugged, returning to his fast paced chopping. "I just told Marinette I'd have all the vegetables diced quickly."

"Quickly?" Tikki echoed, watching him push the tomatoes away and start on the peeled onions.

"Yeah! Gotta impress the teach’, if you know what I mean." he winked.

"Adrien...you've improved so much in three weeks' time." Tikki said gently. "I mean, look, you can pour yourself any drink you wanted, you can make your own meals now, don't you think you're doing a great job already?"

"It's not enough, Tikki." Adrien argued. "I'm still messing up here and there and this time it has to be perfect!" He blinked away the sting from his eyes. The onions. Shoot. He'd forgotten that little detail. "I have to show Marinette how much I've gotten better."

"But you have! Don't you think you should take it slow? You're using your knife too fast, you're gonna-"

Adrien gasped at the sting, not from his eyes, but from his finger.

"-hurt yourself." Tikki winced.

"Shit!" Adrien grimaced, cradling his thumb as he ran to his sink to hold it under running water.

Tikki worriedly motioned for his thumb after a few moments. He tried to hold back the whimper in his chest as he did.

"No, put it back under water." Tikki said instead. "It's bleeding a lot."

He grumbled as he did. He couldn't even do something as simple this right. All he wanted was to slice something with the same grace Marinette possessed. No matter what he did, it came out clumsy and misshapen.

Marinette never complained about his botched work, she had never not added his ingredients to their dishes, even if they were imperfect.

Just once, he wanted her to tell him that he had done a perfect job today, without any screw ups.

"I know what you are thinking." Tikki said, after he gave up and turned the tap off. "And believe me, Marinette could never be upset at you, so why are you getting upset at yourself? You're still learning!"

"Yeah, but it's been three weeks!" he complained. "It usually never takes me this long to not be terrible at something!"

_ 'Maybe that's because you were introduced to fencing, piano and modeling since you were a child-' _ the rational part of his brain argued, but he refused to listen to it.

"Adrien. Cooking is not something you can master in a matter of weeks, or even months. It takes years of practice - PRACTICE, not talent." she emphasized. "You can never get perfect at this. Marinette herself had her share of mistakes in the bakery, and she grew up in it. You can only get better, not perfect."

It made sense. He knew it did. Tikki was a worldly little god who had lived as long as the universe, so of course he knew she was right and yet-

"I just...I just wanted to impress her." he mumbled, embarrassed. "It's stupid, I know, I just wanted her to look at me and not see a-"

"Come on now," Tikki scolded. "Marinette doesn't see you like that. I don't, Plagg doesn't, and none of your friends do. You should know better than that."

"Alright, Adrien- how is it going?" Marinette called as she walked inside. "Oh, hi Tikki!" she said absent mindedly as she inspected Adrien's work. "That's great! You've already moved on to the onions! All that is left is the zucchi-  _ what happened to your finger?! _ " she shrieked, rushing up to him.

"I accidentally sliced it open." he said, trying to keep the moment light. "Don't blame myself, it looks as pink as the onion I was trying to cut."

"Adrien!" Marinette glared at him, and for a moment, he shrunk back in fear, expecting to be scolded. "This is not funny!"

"I know." he amended. "I should have been more careful."

She sighed, taking his hand in hers as she inspected the deep cut. "That's not what I was trying to say. You're in the kitchen, accidents happen, I've gotten more burn marks than I can even remember."

Her sleek fingers ran down the length of his palm, setting his skin on fire as they did. Her nails were painted pink and she had added glitter-

The bleeding was making him delirious. 

"You're going to need a bandage. Do you guys have first aid?"

"Living room." he curled the remainder of his fingers around her palm. "Third drawer at the mantelpiece."

"Okay." Marinette nodded. "I'll get it out, come on, a bandage and some antiseptic should fix this."

"I'll still be able to learn today!" he blurted out. "It's just a scratch, let's not stop, I can come right back and-"

She thankfully laughed at his rambling. He might as well have gotten on his knees and begged her not to leave because he enjoyed her company that much.

_ ‘That would have been less creepy.’  _ he thought sarcastically.

"I know, silly. I never thought you couldn't." she squeezed his wrist, careful to not brush her hand against his hurt thumb. “You’re doing a great job already, _ mon chaton. _ Just one thing though, be steady while using a knife. You might end up with uneven slices. It shouldn’t matter with tomatoes and onions too much, but it’s an important rule to remember while baking - once we come to that, that is - precision is more important in baking than cooking.”

He couldn’t help sneaking a tiny kiss on the wrist of the hand holding his. Maybe Tikki was right and he was just overreacting? 

“Got it, professor!” He saluted, still holding it up to his lips. “Your favorite student won’t disappoint next time!” 

“First of all, you could never disappoint me, second of all, you’re my only student,.” she patted his cheek, grinning at his antics.

He leaned into her touch; he couldn’t help it, it was the feline in him. 

Pun intended. 

“Still your favourite though, right?” he pouted, and in response, he got playfully pushed away by the nose. 

“Come on, you silly cat.” she rolled her eyes. 

She walked out of the kitchen and he followed, listening to her absent mindedly humming some song he recognized on a Jagged Stone playlist. She was walking in that peculiar way she did by balancing on the balls of her feet. It almost made her look like she was dancing. 

"Progress over perfection, Adrien." Tikki said seriously, seating himself on his shoulder. "Not just for learning how to cook, in all aspects of life. I tell that to Marinette all the time."

"Wow, I just..." he was still in quiet awe. He had seriously expected to get reprimanded for not finishing on time. 

Marinette had gotten the box out and had already settled on the couch, searching for cotton and a plaster. Wisps of hair were falling out of her bun, and they were drawing his attention to the curve of her neck.

“Well, you’ve got it bad.” Tikki said kindly, watching the blushing young man glued to her every movement, watching her like he never wanted to blink. 

“Well at least you don’t tease me like Plagg does.” Adrien sighed. He knew better than anyone that his kwami cared for him in his own special way, but sometimes he could really do without the vicious teasing he got for daring to even look in Marinette’s direction, or simply talking about what a wonderful person Marinette just happened to be. 

Then again he’d prefer looking at her rather than looking at anything else. And she really was so kind and gentle yet so strong and brave and being with her wasn’t anything like anything he ever knew - oh man, Tikki was right. He’s really got it bad. 

“What, do you really wanna run out of blood that badly?” Marinette called from the couch. “Your thumb is still bleeding!” 

“My blood platelets would beg to differ.” he retorted, and immediately grimaced. That was the worst joke ever and he knew it. 

She still laughed. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This one is kinda meh idk


	4. Come Apart at the Steams

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> oh my what do we have here?

Not for the first time in his life, Adrien couldn't sleep.

For the first time, he was trying his best not to.

Plagg was already snoring loudly on the pillow next to him, but for once, Adrien didn't have the heart to complain. Nino and Alya had gone on a road trip for the weekend and the tiny god's snores were the only evidence of life in his lonely apartment.

If he were awake, Plagg would say something like, "I destroyed an entire species of reptiles, one bad day isn't going to destroy you." And he was right. Tomorrow was another day. He could bury himself in classes and pretend that the frosty dinner with his father never happened.

....why had he brought that up? Now he wouldn't be able to get that off of his mind. It would stay there like a flashing police siren until he drowned it with a drink or two. He would have opened up a bottle but he had early classes he really couldn't afford to miss.

Growling into his pillow one last time, he pushed himself off of his bed violently. A loud snore stilled him into silence, but when he turned around, Plagg hadn't even stirred. Sighing in relief, he threw on an undershirt and plodded heavily to his kitchen.

He had forgotten to make himself dinner. One would think it was typical of "daddy's rich boy" to pull something reckless like that, but not Adrien.

When he was young, he was always punctual for dinner time. His fork and spoon and would be poised to stab a piece of the meal he'd inevitably eat alone. Now he was an adult, and thanks to Marinette, he was making his own food now.

Nino had whooped when he had managed to cook meat the other day without burning their stove (it had been a little dry, but that was besides the point).

Today, he had gotten home, finished two weeks worth of homework, talked to Nino about how things were going in his and Alya's time alone, replied to Marinette's regular sweet "Good Night!" text with a small smile of his face, gone to bed without eating, and now his pangs of hunger had worked him up.

Before he had begun to register what he was doing, the leftover noodles from yesterday were cooking on his stove and he had already begun on the sauce. His actions, as mechanical as they were, helped with the distraction.

Inevitably, there came a moment when anyone cooking had to sit and stare while the food cooked, and staring at gravy bubbling wasn't exactly interesting.

"The brand is doing quite well, Adrien. Why, were you expecting a slump after you left? You are not my only model after all."

He had only asked if work was going alright.

"Why do I see a 15 in one of your subjects?"

"It was a group assignment, Father."

"That is not an excuse for you to be less responsible, Adrien. You cannot let people around you pull you down."

"We all worked hard on it-"

"Pray tell, why am I hearing about your classmates?"

"Sorry, Father."

"I do not want to see anything less than a 20 in your courses, Adrien. I expect nothing less than perfection from us Agrestes."

"Yes, father."

That was the extent of their conversation. His father hadn't asked him anything else about his life, and he had been too terrified to bring it up.

He wished he was kidding.

He should have brought it up. He should have talked about the different internships he was offered, he should have said something about being considered for a TA, what did his father know about what he was thinking?

A few minutes later, his very, very late dinner was ready.

...and of course it was way too much for a single person. Why hadn't he paid attention?

Grumbling, he stuck a fork into the hot meal and chewed.

Oh wow.

It was....good?

He had made something and it wasn't stale or undercooked?

He had another forkful. There was no way that that wasn't a fluke.

A whoop of joy left his full mouth. He had done it! He may have made too much, but his food actually tasted delicious!

"Plagg!!" he excitedly called. "Come down, see what I did!"

No answer came, and he winced, remembering that his kwami was fast asleep, and wouldn't wake up if he screamed into a megaphone.

He had to tell someone, though. This was too good to be true.

And he knew just who to text.

Snapping a photo, he quickly sent it to Marinette.

_"Dinner looks good, don't you think, m'lady?"_ followed by a flurry of smug cat emojis. She liked it when he did that.

His phone's clock suddenly struck 3, and Adrien finally came to his senses. What was he thinking? Marinette was probably asleep. He'd have probably woken her up if he called her.

Oh well. She'd see it in the morning. He might as well get eating.

His phone chimed thrice.

_ "OH MY GOD YOU MADE THAT?!" _

_ "ADRIEN AGRESTE WHY ARE YOU HAVING DINNER AT 3 AM?!" _

_ "IT LOOK SO DELICIOUS KITTY, I'M SO PROUD OF YOU!!!" _

_ "Sorry I forgot to turn off my caps lock, but this looks so good!" _

"No worries. m'lady, message heard, loud and clear."

_ "Ha Ha. Why are you having dinner so late?" _

"Why are you awake?"

_"I have a project to finish."_ he could hear her lofty tone. _"I have a perfectly good reason. Did you forget to eat dinner again?"_

"....."

_ "Adrien." _

"I'm sorry, okay? A lot has been going on today and I had been really busy"

"I just forgot"

"I guess."

_ "I'm going to skip the concerned lecture for now, but hey, atleast you're eating." _

"Eating something I cooked for myself, you mean. You should meet my teacher, she's pretty clawsome if I say so myself"

_ "How does she put up with your puns?" _

"She doesn't need to put up with them. She secretly loves them."

_ "No I don't!" _

"Yes you do."

_ "No" _

"Yes"

_ "No" _

"Okay this can go on forever, and you know I would make sure that it would"

He hesitated. Would this be too forward? Was she probably too tired or busy to say yes?

"Turns out I actually made too much for one person. Do you wanna swing by?"

It wasn't like he was actually asking her out. He was inviting over a friend who was just as lonely in her apartment as he was to use her superhero powers to join him for dinner at 3 AM. This was the furthest thing from a date.

"Gee, I thought I was worth more than your leftovers."

Adrien's jaw dropped. No! He didn't mean it like that! She was worth more than anything!

She was priceless to him, how could she-

Okay, he needed to chill with the wording there.

"M'lady!! You know you are worth more than that to me." he punctuated it with a pouty emoji.

"You wound me if you think that a worthless clump of noodles mean more to me than the time I get with you."

She didn't reply for a moment, and he was sure he had blown it until-

_ "Hey buddy, don't you dare insult my student's skills. That may be a worthless clump of noodles, but it is HIS worthless clump of noodles." _

"Understood, sensei." he typed, grinning like he had never grumbled in his entire life.

_ "Seriously, Adrien. It looks so good. I can't wait to taste it." _

"Does this mean you are coming??"

_ "Feeding Tikki as we speak." _

"YAS."

_ "Got a little typo there, son." _

"I'm gonna break out the candles. We should take advantage of the dark."

_ "Adrien, NO!" _

"Adrien, yes."

_ "You know your apartment doesn't allow candles" _

_ "I'm not getting us into trouble." _

"What if they were scented candles,"

"My neighbours could go to sleep smelling sweet lavender instead of the smoke they banned."

_ "Adrien" _

"Fiiiiiiiiine."

"If you want a boring dinner with noodles and tomato sauce in the boring light of my boring beige kitchen, I GUESS we can do that"

His reply came in the form of a knock coming from his bedroom.

He raced to his room to find Marinette already detransforming and putting a sleepy Tikki to bed next to Plagg.

She walked up to him, clad in an oversized sweater and sweatpants. "Hello, you dork." she booped his nose, her open curls bouncing as she did. "Thanks for not committing arson before I get here.

He scoffed, but pulled her into a tight hug as he did. Her hands clung to his shoulder blades, and his face was buried into her hair that somehow still smelled like cookies.

He didn't realise how long he had been hugging her until she patted his back without letting him go. "Hey, everything okay?"

"Oh, uh-!" he jumped back, slightly flustered. "Yeah, yeah, no worries."

"You sure?" she asked, her blue eyes roving his face, looking for some crack in his perfectly embellished wall.

"Yep. Just happy to see you, m'lady." he smiled, slinging an arm around her and leading her to the kitchen.

* * *

"That...was...." Marinette sighed, putting down her fork on her empty plate. "The most delicious thing I have had in ages."

Adrien snorted, covering his mouth with his free hand. "If my food is the most delicious thing you've had in ages, should I be worried about what you are eating?"

"If my leg was long enough, I'd kick you without having to get up." She grunted from her cross-legged position on his kitchen island.

He laughed, (genuinely this time) and leaned back on the counter. "I'm serious, Marinette, what have you been eating that makes my food look better in comparison?"

"But the noodles were so good!" Marinette jabbed a finger in his direction. "You clearly have gotten so much better and you need to admit it to yourself."

"Ehhhhhh." He shrugged, his somber mood slowly dampening the atmosphere.

"Adrien!!" Marinette exclaimed, affronted. "Are you saying I'M a bad teacher, then?"

"Yeah- what?!" He was startled. "No! That's not what I'm saying at all! Marinette, you're an amazing teacher, you're the only reason the food I make is edible now!"

" _'Edible'_ ," she sniffed. "Either you are a bad cook, which you are not anymore, or I am a bad teacher. You can't have both at the same time."

He whistled slowly while collecting both their plates. "Resorting to emotional blackmail I see." He snuck a look at her smug face, and immediately turned away when his heart did a backflip. "Not very on brand for the superhero of Paris."

"Desperate times call for desperate measures."

He chuckled at the thought of her considering his moments of being a Debbie Downer as a problem so dire it needed her magic touch.

This was nice. He looked forward to meeting her every other day on a rooftop so that they could talk about everything and nothing. The reveal had only served to deepen it, to soften it in such a casual way that.....talking with his friend over a very late dinner didn't feel as mundane as it was supposed to.

The air was crackled with energy when she talked about the assignments she was looking forward to, the ones that she was dreading because they were too many high stakes or just plain boring paperwork, and when she patiently listened to the new cool trick him, Max and Nino had discovered in a new game the other day.

It was wonderfully ordinary, but not in the mundane, uptight way his old house stared back at him with its drab, grey walls, a symbol of the several losses it had suffered.

It felt like coming back to a lived in home, with pictures full of memories frozen in time, with the faint smell of cookies and lavender that came from within 10 meters of being in Marinette's range.

His shoulders slumped. He did miss Alya and Nino and looked forward to them coming back the day after tomorrow...and yet he found himself being disappointed he didn't ask Marinette to stay over at his place or go over to hers in the meantime. The silence sometimes was too jarring, even for him.

Waking up to find her in his kitchen, probably making a pot of coffee...wait what was he saying, Marinette was still terrible at waking up in the mornings. He would probably have to bodily pull her out of bed like Alya says she does.

His wishful thinking was interrupted by Marinette's voice. "Alright, I can't take this anymore."

He turned back to her, ignoring the running water in his tap. "What do you mean?"

"Something is bothering you."

"Huh?"

"You heard me."

"Marinette, I'm fine. Really, I was just tired, that's all." He said weakly.

She didn't believe him.

"I don't believe you." She said stubbornly.

_Nailed it,_ he thought sarcastically.

"What happened? Did something go wrong with your classes?"

He sighed. They'd had their share of uncomfortable conversations. They were used to tiptoeing and dancing carefully around each other. If it was before, he could hide behind his secret identity and she'd have no choice but to drop it. Now with their secrets out and lying on the table made him feel weirdly bare around Marinette.

"My father asked me to have lunch with him today." He said quietly, rubbing the back of his neck.

"...what?"

"I'm sorry I didn't tell you, or Alya, or Nino, I just, I was so excited for some reason and I didn't want to jinx it-" a hiccup arose from the back of his throat, making him stop.

Marinette's entire demeanor changed. She got down from the island and stood in front of him, her hands to the sides, (and he barely noticed, slightly twitching) with a worried expression on her face. "You don't have to apologize for that. What happened with him?"

"Oh, nothing-"

"Don't." She interrupted, her eyes fiery yet inviting. "Don't 'nothing' me. If you're upset it's not nothing. What happened?"

"It was going fine at first." He mumbled. "I really didn't know what to say though. I brought up his work and...he said that I didn't have to worry about it too much, seeing as I'm not modeling for his company anymore."

Marinette's eyes slid into a confused glare.

"Yeah, I mean, I get why he's upset, I was kind of forceful with my resignation two years ago." He said sheepishly. "It was my fault, I really shouldn't have brought it up if it was such a sore spot."

Marinette looked like she wanted to say something, but instead she nodded for him to continue.

"Then he asked me about my grades, told me I should improve a bit more-"

"Improve?" Marinette cut in.

"Yeah and then that was it." He said hurriedly. "I wasn't able to bring up other stuff like the subjects I'm taking or anything else, I kind of really wanted to, but he had to leave so quickly so I didn't get to." He must have sounded miserable, because it was mirrored on Marinette's downcast face. "Marinette, it's okay, it's dumb anyway, I'll get over it in the morning."

"It's not dumb, Adrien! Your father invited YOU over, doesn't even engage in proper conversation with you, insults your choices, doesn't make you feel welcome and you're still feeling like you shouldn't be disappointed? You have every right to be!" She argued, throwing her hands in the air.

Every single word she uttered hit him right where it hurt, right where he was trying to cover it up with smiles that didn't reach his eyes.

His vision blurred just as he saw Marinette's jaw drop delicately. He wiped the tears from his eyes, gulped and replied. "Yeah well," he sniffed. "I don't know why I was excited at all. It's not like our meals together were great even before this."

His lower lip trembled and before another apology could come tumbling out, Marinette had her hands wrapped around his middle and pulled him closer to her.

His arms went around her back seamlessly, automatically, like they belonged there. She buried her face in his neck and breathed into him slowly, to even out the rapid pacing of his heart.

His nose nuzzled her hair before it dropped onto her shoulder, as he let a few more tears escape.

They stayed that way for a few minutes, far too long enough for Adrien to worry if he was getting too clingy, but Marinette still had no intention of letting him go.

"You shouldn't be the only one putting effort here." She said after a while.

"Nino says that a lot too." He murmured.

"Yeah well, he's right. You deserve to look forward to having meals with someone you love." She said, pulling away finally and looking directly at him.

"Why do you think I called you here, m'lady?" He said half-heartedly.

Marinette froze and a second later, he realized why.

"Uh..." he managed to say but alarm bells were going off in his head.

"Ha ha, s-silly kitty, I know w-what you mean, don't worry about it." She stammered, brushing it off. Even in the dim light of his kitchen, he saw the dusting of pink on her cheeks.

He should feel relieved that she didn't misunderstand his intentions, right? This was how it always was. He'd flirt and mean it, sometimes she'd flirt back and reduce him to a puddle, but for the most part she'd roll her eyes at him and they'd move on.

Not that he was ever pleased with the state of their relationship (he would never want to play with her feelings), nor was he ever disappointed with it (seriously, she was the best thing that ever happened to him, the last thing he'd do is force her into something she wouldn't want), but....haven't things changed?

He wasn't that oblivious, no matter what people thought of him. He never did nice things for her because he thought he'd get something in return, but he'd have to be a dunce if he told himself he didn't relish the fact that he was the reason for her happiness.

Sometimes during their rare occasions for patrol, he'd catch her gaze lingering on him a while longer. He knew exactly what that was like, he'd done that for years.

Yet he stayed quiet, he never pointed it out and focused his attention on their quiet time stargazing.

He had been making her blush a lot. For years even. When they were 15, she'd been so painfully shy around him as Adrien, so much to the point that he spent nights tossing and turning if he had done something to upset her.

These blushes were different. They were more graceful than awkward, and though she'd avert her eyes away from him, she never ran away. She blushed when he hugged her, she blushed when they happened to cuddle, she was blushing now, but she stayed this time. She stayed through many of the storms he thought he'd have to face alone, through so many bridges he thought he'd never be able to cross.

On a rooftop 5 years ago, she told him kindly and gently, careful enough to not tread over his already broken heart, that she valued him deeply as a friend, and she would never want to hurt him. Was it still the same now?

He wouldn't know unless he asked.

"Do you?" he asked, making her look up.

"Sorry?" she asked, confused.

"Do you really know what I mean?" he asked.

"That you love spending time with me...?" she trailed off.

"No I- I mean yes!" he backtracked. "Yes, I do love spending time with you, but that's not what I meant."

This was not how he planned things would go.

He had planned something elaborate on a rooftop, with candles and roses and soft promises whispered for her ears only.

"What did you mean then?" she asked, her lips parting dazedly.

"Kind of like what you said," he said cautiously, walking towards her. "I wanted my excitement about being with the ones I love to finally pay off."

Her eyes widened at him stressing the word 'love'.

"Adrien..." she breathed, her palm going flat on the cool countertop.

"Can I tell you what I think?" his fingers splayed evenly and slid in between hers. "I think it would pay off with you."

"Do you...do you want to do that?" she whispered. "With me? Tomorrow? L-lunch?"

"Tomorrow, huh?" he involuntarily smirked. "So soon?"

"Hey, you brought this up!" she glared, her fingers clenching, but his hand in hers didn't budge.

"Sorry, m'lady." he grinned radiantly. He couldn't believe that only an hour ago, he had sunk into depressed depths. She had brought him back ashore like he was a ship cruising in the ocean, not the anchor weighing everything down like he thought he was. "So what do you say?"

"Technically, I'm the one who asked the question." her voicegrew bolder, her hand freeing itself from his and trailing up his arm to rest on his shoulder. He gulped audibly at the tingling sensation, and he could have sworn she smirked at him. "What do you say?"

"Aw man," he mockingly grumped as he leaned in further into her space. "And here I was, hoping I would be the one to pop the question."

"Too bad, looks like I beat you to it, mon chaton. Just like how I beat you to the Eiffel Tower 10 minutes before you.”

“You totally cheated that day.” he rolled his eyes even as their noses were inches away from each other. 

“That’s a weird way to say that you are slower than me.” 

“You know what, yes, I will have lunch with you.” he said. “Is it a date, though?” 

She froze, even though he knew she was fully aware of his intentions.

“Oh yeah, I was hoping to be the one to pop the question. I never said which one.” he said smugly. 

The spark flaring in her eyes told him that she was gonna get back at him for this. 

“Will you go out with me, Bugaboo?” he asked earnestly. “For real this time? I happen to have been loving you for the past five years, and I don’t plan on stopping soon.”

She continued to stare at him intensely, and a wiggle of fear crept up his spine. “Do you think we have a chance?” he asked nervously.

She answered by pulling him down for the fiercest kiss he could have possibly imagined. Her hands were cupping his cheeks, caressing them feverishly like she was afraid he was going to pull away any second. 

Like he would ever do that. His arm wound around her waist, the other coming up to her cheek as he gently tilted his head to kiss her better.

She pulled away first, gasping for breath, hers mingling with his. He dived back in briefly to brush his lips against hers, before murmuring, “Who knew I’d have a crush on the teacher?”   


She groaned loudly. “You’re ruining the moment.” 

He could tell she didn’t mean it; her shy smile was betraying her. 

“You still didn’t say yes or no, you know.”

In response, she reached up on her tallest tiptoes,making him pull her closer. He expected a sarcastic or a sassy quip, something that would definitely leave him wanting more, but her eyes were the softest blue when she replied with a shy, but sincere, “Of course it’s a yes, mon chaton.” 

He didn’t know whose lips met the other first, but he supposed it didn’t matter. 

She said yes.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> if you think i'm gonna let them be happy, naaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhh, a little more suffering (affectionate) for Marinette is on the way, Adrien has suffered enough


End file.
